The Idyllwild Downtown Historic District now has a local review board. At its Tuesday, Jan. 29, meeting, the county Board of Supervisors approved the appointment of Nancy Borchers and Barbara Jones of Pine Cove, Ron Kammeyer of Fern Valley and Warren Monroe and Christina Stewart of Idyllwild.
Borchers and Kammeyer will serve one-year terms and the remaining three board members will serve two-year terms. Thereafter, all board members’ terms will be for two years.
The new review board members bring a variety of backgrounds and experience to their service for the Idyllwild historic district. Stewart has experience in real estate, Kammeyer in landscape architecture, Borchers in architectural drafting and construction, and Monroe in water issues and planning. Jones brings a background in education.
Both she and Borchers are directors on the Idyllwild Area Historical Society Board and serve on the collections committee.
Borchers said the review board offers the opportunity to better coordinate the look and maintenance of the downtown corridor.
“I’d like to see the character of the [downtown] area maintained but we must be sensitive to how people make a living,” Jones said.
Third District Supervisor Jeff Stone, who spearheaded this effort, said this historic district designation would give Idyllwild some protection against the kind of frivolous Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuits that a San Diego attorney has brought against merchants in Julian.
“I’m very excited this is winding down and that we finally have the board members in place and have the appropriate protections for Idyllwild’s downtown business core,” Stone said.
He also mentioned that with the historic district designation, there could be some public money available that could help fund downtown improvements such as public restrooms.
“I think now we’ll be able to make some long-standing dreams a reality,” Stone added.